Mixing Facts and Fiction

Because of all of the hype and discussion about Quentin Tarantino's claim he will make his 10th major motion picture his final film, many begin descriptions of those movies by numbering them.  Which brings me to the 9th film from QT, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.  The critical reception has been very positive.  Rotten Tomatoes gives it a critic's score of 85%.  I gave it 4.7 out of 5 stars in my review.  

But there has been considerable criticism of how QT portrays the legendary Bruce Lee in his film.  Played by Mike Moh, the revered martial arts/movie legend comes off as a loud-mouthed arrogant ass.  The Los Angeles Times reports that QT defended how Lee is portrayed at a press conference in Moscow.  

“Bruce Lee was kind of an arrogant guy,” Tarantino said in a video posted by Radar magazine. “The way he was talking, I didn’t just make a lot of that up. I heard him say things like that, to that effect. If people are saying, ‘Well, he never said he could beat up Muhammad Ali,’ well, yeah, he did. Not only did he say that, but his wife, Linda Lee, said that in her first biography I ever read. ... She absolutely said it.”

She did.  The problem is, those were not her words.  She was quoting a television critic, according to Matthew Polly.

WRONG: Linda was quoting a TV critic. “Even the most scathing critics admitted that Bruce’s gungfu was sensational. One critic wrote: ‘Those who watched him would bet on Lee to render Cassius Clay senseless if they were put in a room and told that anything goes.” (pg. 88) (3/11)

— Matthew Polly (@MatthewEPolly) August 12, 2019

As to "I heard him say things like that, to that effect" just when did QT hear him say those things?  Tarantino was only 10 years old when Bruce Lee died.  I've seen no recordings of Bruce Lee saying anything like that.  Dan Inosanto, who probably knew Bruce Lee better than anyone except Linda Lee had this to say.

"Bruce Lee would have never said anything derogatory about Muhammad Ali because he worshiped the ground Muhammad Ali walked on. In fact, he was into boxing more so than martial arts."

It is also worth noting that in a later biography of Bruce Lee penned by Linda Lee, The Life and Tragic Death of Bruce Lee, there are five references to Muhammad Ali.  The final reference is worth noting in this discussion.  She is talking about the movie Game of Death, much of which had been shot before Bruce Lee's death in July of 1973.

"Bruce had to go into the pagoda with two followers and to fight his way up through the floors, tackling a different martial artist and a different style on each floor. Danny Inosanto, who uses the nunchuka as well as anyone now alive defended one floor. A Korean 7th degree Hapkido Chi Hon Joi defended another floor and so oRight at the top was Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the final protector of the treasure. The fight between them, as I have said, is quite extraordinary. It has often been argued that if Bruce were locked in a room with Muhammad Ali and both were allowed to fight in their usual styles, then Bruce was bound to have been the winner." 

However, QT raised a very valid point in trying to counter the criticisms of how Bruce Lee is portrayed in the film.  In discussing whether or not "Cliff Booth" could have defeated Bruce Lee in a fight, he points out that Booth is a fictional character.  Any writer has complete control of what their fictional characters can and cannot do in their writing/filmmaking.  Yes, Mr. Polly is correct that QT's claim that Booth was a "Green Beret" is silly, because the Green Berets weren't created until well after World War II (he says Booth was a veteran of that war).  That is not relevant.  

A writer can author a book, a short story or a screenplay and give their fictional characters any abilities they want to.  In the movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, showing Cliff Booth defeating Bruce Lee is a valid choice.  I have no issue with that.

I've been a serious fan of Bruce Lee since I first saw Enter the Dragon in 1973.  I've seen all of his films multiple times.  Watched every episode of the television show The Green Hornet.  Read every book about him I could get my hands on.  I do not think for one minute that he was as big a jerk as he was portrayed in QT's movie.  

When mixing factual and fictional characters in fiction, I believe the writer has a duty to give as an accurate portrayal of the real people as possible.  But the choice to take poetic license is the author's.